Fixit: Recycle bottle caps at salons and schools

Q Where might we recycle the caps of disposable bottles and jugs?

A At hair salons and schools participating in Recycle Caps with Aveda, a beauty products manufacturer.

What's collected: Bottle and jug caps that are rigid polypropylene plastic, sometimes noted with a 5 in the chasing arrows recycling symbol. This includes caps that twist on with a threaded neck, such as caps on shampoo, water, soda, milk and other beverage bottles; flip-top caps on tubes and laundry detergents or food product bottles (such as ketchup and mayonnaise), and some jar lids such as those on plastic containers of peanut butter.

Excluded from collection are pharmaceutical lids and non-rigid lids such as those on yogurt or tub (margarine, cottage cheese) containers, and screw-on lids that are not rigid. If you can bend or break the lid with your bare hands, then it does not meet the rigid plastic definition.

Aveda sends the caps to a recycler that uses the material in new caps and containers.

Brown bug invades Q We have tiny brown bugs in the upper bathrooms of our new home. Our builder said they got in during construction. They're mostly near the sinks. They fly, and they seem to like the ceiling near the window. There were hundreds of them last year, when we moved in. I've seen 30 of them so far this year. What are they and what can we do about them?

A You are describing foreign grain beetles, a common insect at the end of summer, said Jeff Hahn, entomologist at the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

In August and September, they come out from behind the home's walls and into the living areas. Foreign grain beetles are attracted to moisture, which they find around sinks, basins and bathtubs. Despite their name, foreign grain beetles rarely attack food products, such as flour or pasta, unless the food is old and moldy.

Foreign grain beetles are harmless, although they can be a nuisance. The best control method is to physically remove them with a vacuum cleaner. Insecticides are not advised because the bugs are a temporary problem and cause no real harm.

Foreign grain beetles go away on their own as the wood in new homes dries, usually within a couple of years. They do not infest areas outside the walls (unless they find damp, moldy material).